Take-up mechanism for knitting machines



Aug. 26, 1924. s sanss A. E BERDON TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 19. L921 3 Sheets-Shaet 1 A TTOR/VEYS Aug.26,1924. mamas A. E. BERDON TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES w 'l I ATORNEY5.

Aug. 26, 1924. A 1,506,153 I A.E.BERDQN TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug- 19. 1921 3 Sheets-5h. 5

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BY an MWN v ATTORNEY? Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT E. BERDON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO JAMES K. LANNING, F FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

TAKE-UP MECHANISIJZ' FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

Application filed August 19, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. Bunnon, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Detroit, in the county of iVayne and State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement in Take-Up Mechanism for Knitting Machines, of which the following ting machines.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood, I have disclosed a single embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a single knitting head, the driving means thereof and the take-up mechanism of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a View mainly in plan but partly in horizontal section of the take-up mechanism represented in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail from the side opposite Fig. 1 of the take-up mechanism;

Fig. i is a longitudinal vertical section upon the line lt of Fig.

Fig, 5 is a view of the take-up mechanism shown in Fig. 1, but representing the parts differently positioned and showing also a portion of the driving mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section upon the line 66 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view but representing the product of the machine between the take-up rolls.

The take-up mechanism of my invention is adapted for use in various relations in textile mechanisms as for example in knitting machines and braiding machines.

lVithout in any wise limiting my invention thereto, I will describe the same in connection with that type of knit-ting machine wherein the knitting head, or a series thereof if desired, may be moved into and out of frictional driving relation with a positively driven part. Broadly considered it is immaterial whether the driven part or the knitting head be moved bodily toward and from the other part and either the cam ring or the needle cylinder of the knitting head may be rotated. Herein I have chosen to Serial No. 493,641.

represent the cam ring or cylinder as rotated and the needle carrier or support as stationary.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have in Fig. 1 represented an upright shaft 1 having fast thereon a pulley 2 driven by a belt or band 3 from any suitable source of power, such for example as an electric motor.

Upon said shaft 1 is fast a disk e adapted to drive the wheel 5 of the take-up mechanism of my invention. Also fast upon said shaft 1 is a disk 6 preferably of relatively large diameter so that if desired the number of knitting heads may be arranged in a circular series thereabout and driven thereby. The said shaft 1 is supported in a base 7 and at its upper end is received in a bear ing 8 of the member or casting 9 of the framing. One or more standards 10 are preferably provided in a circular series about the driven shaft 1. The bed plate of the machine is indicated at 11, it being desirably of annular or ringlike form and it supports, in a manner not herein necessary more fully to describe, one or a series of knitting heads indicated generally at 12 and which as disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 493,640, filed Aug. 19, 1921, are adapted to be moved mannually into and out of frictional driving relation with the driving disk 6, said knitting head or heads being provided with a series of leather or like disks l3 adapted to contact with and to be driven by said driving disk. In the disclosed embodiment of my invention, the needle carrier or support is stationary, it being preferably of relatively small diameter and the knitted tube or product 1% issues therefrom preferably at a very high rate of speed, as, for example, six hundred to fifteen hundred revolutions per minute.

The said knitted tube or product 14 passes between two rolls 15, 16 which may have knurled surfaces as indicated in Fig. 2. The said rolls are supported in a pivoted frame 17 as indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. The roll 16 rotates upon a fixed centre,.whereas the shaft of the roll may be adjusted in horizontal slots 18 shown in Figs. 6 and 7, said shaft being held yieldingly in position by means of coil springs 19 and set screws 20. The shaft of the take-up roll 15 is represented most clearly at 21 in Fig. 4. At one end it has fast thereon a worm wheel 22 adapted to be rotated by a worm 23 meshing therewith and fast upon a shaft 24: mounted in the said pivoted frame 17 Upon the inner end of the said shaft 24 is supported the wheel 5 previously referred to and which may, if desired, have a rubber rim permitting its ready frictional rotation from the driving disk 1.

The end of the shaft 21 opposite the worm wheel 22 is provided with a gear 25 meshing with the gear 26 upon the shaft of the other take-up roll 16. By the described construction, both the take-up rolls 15 and 16 are positively rotated so long as the wheel 5 is in frictional relation with the driving disk 4 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

The frame 17 is pivoted at 27 upon a depending portion 28 of the framing, and the construction and proportions of the parts are such that when the fabric issuing from the knitting head is under proper tension, the frame 17 is tilted as indicated in Fig. 5 so as to. permit the wheel 5 to withdraw from driving relation with the driving disk 4, thus stopping the positive rotation of the take-up rolls 15, 16. Thereupon the fabric begins to accumulate between the knitting head and said rolls 15 and 16 and the tension upon the fabric thus slackening, the frame swings into the horizontal position indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, thus restoring the wheel 5 into driving relation with the driving disk 4, whereupon the take-up rolls 15, 16 are again positively driven and the slightly accumulated fabric is at once taken up or passed between the positively driven rolls 15, 16 into a suitable receptacles It will be evident that only intermittently is the wheel 5 in contact with the driving disk a and that when it is removed therefrom the tension upon the fabric is somewhat relaXed because the frame 17 has tilted into the position shown in Fig. 5. 1 therefore provide means whereby, when the frame 17 is in the tilted position shown in Fig. 5, the tension upon the fabric is substantially n'iaintained. To this end, and in the disclose-d embodiment of the invention 1 pro vide a bell crank lever indicated generally at29, it being pivoted'at 30 upon the frame 17 and having an arm 31 desirably carrying aroll 32 adapted to contact with the knitted tube or product 14E as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. To the outer arm 33 of the bell crank lever 29 is connected one end of a coiled spring 3 1, theopposite end whereof is connected to a plate 35, slidable along the upright rod 36 extending from the pivoted frame 17. The said plate 35 is adapted to bind in any position whereto itmay be manually adjusted, through the action of the said spring 34.

Thus the roll 32 bears with a yielding resistance against the knitted tube or product- 14 and such resistance may be varied or adjusted by changing the tension of the spring 34 as described. The rod 36 has connected to its upper end the coil spring 37, the opposite end whereof is connected to a plate 88 preferably constructed similarly to the plate and adapted to be manually slid along a rod 39 extending from the framing and to be held in its position of manual adjustment. The tendency of the spring 37 is to rock the frame 1'? upon its pivot so as to tend to bring the wheel 5 into driving relation with the driving disk 1. The tension of the said spring 37 should, however, be so adjusted that it will not at all times hold the wheel 5 in driving relation with the driving disk & but permit said wheel 5 to function in the manner already stated,which it does, even though the roll 32 bears at all times upon the fabric as described.

Desirably I provide means whereby the wheel 5 may be locked or held out of driving relation with the driving disk 4L, as, for eX- ample, when the knitting machine is not in operation. For this purpose, I have mounted upon the rod 39 a member e'() in such manner as to be turned manually to bring it into the position shown in Fig. 5 sothat it will engage the upper end of the rod 36 and hold the frame 17 in the position indicated in Fig. 5. Upon a partial rotation of the member 10, the latter is disengaged from the upper end of the rod 36 and at the proper time the wheel 5 may move into driving relation with the driving disk 1. The said member 4C0 is held in either position of adjustment by means of a coiled spring 11, the tension of which may be adjusted by a collar 42 or in any other suitable manner.

It will be evident from the foregoing description that l have provided means whereby the rolls of the take-up are positively driven intermittently but whereby the product is maintained under substantially uniform tension at all times including the periods when the said take-up rolls are not positively driven, but are stationary.

1n certain of the claims I have employed the term accumulating means for the prod uct of each machine as meaning that portion of the entire take-up mechanism which directly receives by contact the knitted material and is movable toward and from the knitting instrumentality or machine.

Having thus described one illustrative embodiment of my invention, I desire it to be understood that although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for the purpose of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims 1. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising take-up rolls, a

movable frame wherein said rolls are mounted, driving means for said rolls supported by said frame, said driving means being movable into and out of driving relation to the prime driving means, and means carried by said frame and adapted to engage the product and to maintain the tension thereof substantially constant at all times.

2. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising take-up rolls, a movable frame wherein said rolls are mounted, driving means for said rolls supported by said frame, said driving means being movable into and out of driving relation to the prime driving means, and a lever carried by said frame and adapted to impinge upon the product to maintain the tension thereof substantially uniform at all times.

3. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame, a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and including a driving disk, and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, and means carried by said frame to maintain the tension upon the product substantially uniform at all times.

4.. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame, a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and including a driving disk, and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, and means carried bv said frame to engage the product and to maintain the tension thereon substantially uniform both when said disks are in driving relation and when they are out of driving relation.

5. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame, a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and including a driving disk, and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, a lever carried by said frame and adapted to engage the product, and spring means to hold said lever against said product.

6. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame, a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and includ ing a driving disk, and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, a lever carried by said frame and having a roll to engage the product, and means tending normally to press said roll into engagement with the product.

7. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame,

a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and including a driving disk and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, a bell crank lever carried by said frame one arm thereof being adapted to bear against the product, a spring co-acting With said lever and tending normally to hold said lever arm against the product.

8. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising a pivoted frame, a pair of take-up rolls carried thereby, means positively to rotate said rolls and including a driving disk and a second disk adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the first disk dependent upon the position of said frame, a lever carried by said frame and adapted to engage the product, a rod 36 extending from said frame, adjustable spring means 34- for said lever and engaging said rod, and co-acting spring means 37 for said rod.

9. Knitting mechanism having a pair of take-up rolls between which the product passes, a movable frame carrying said rolls, said frame having a movement toward and from said mechanism according to the ten sion upon the issuing product, means carried by said frame by which said rolls are posi tively driven, said rolls being relatively but yieldingly separable and means carried with and movable with said frame for preserving substantially constant the tension of said product.

10. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising take-up rolls, a movable frame carrying said rolls, driving means carried by said frame by which said rolls are driven, said driving means being adapted in the movement of the frame to engage and to disengage the prime driving means, locking means whereby said driving means carried by the frame may be held out of driving relation to the prime driving means, and means carried said frame and adapted to engage the product, whereby a substantially uniform tension is maintained thereon whether or not the driving means carried by the frame be in driving relation to the prime driving means.

11. Take-up mechanism for textile machines comprising, in combination, accumulating means for the product of said machine, movable toward and from said machine according to the tension upon the issuing product, means dependent upon the ten sion upon said product intermittently to drive said accumulating means, and co-acting means carried with and movable with said accumulating means to preserve substantially constant the tension upon said product.

12. Take-up mechanism for textile machines comprising, in combination, accumulid lating means for the product of said machine, movable toward and from said machine according to the tension upon the issuing product, driving means for said accumulating means, said driving means adapted to be driven intermittently only, and means carried With and movable With the accumulating means to preserve substantially constant the tension upon the fabric during the driving periods and also the nondriving periods.

18. Take-up mechanism for textile machines comprising, in combination, accumulating means for the product of said machines, movable toward and from each of said machines according to the tension upon the issuing product, intermittently acting driving means therefor, and means carried With and movable With the accumulating means to preserve substantially constant the tension upon the fabric irrespective of the driving means.

14;. Take-up mechanism for knitting and like machines comprising take-up rolls, a movable frame wherein said rolls are mounted for movement toward and from the machine, according to the tension upon the issuing product, driving means for said rolls supported by said frame, said driving means being movable into and out of driving relation to the prime driving means, and means carried With and movable With the accumulating means to preserve substantially constant the tension upon the product irrespective of the decision of said driving means.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT E. BERDON. 

